Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Today is Flag Day; Fly your Flag with pride

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Today, June 14, 2011 is Flag Day.

It commemorates the adoption of the flag of the United States, which happened on that date by resolution of the Second Continental Congress in 1777.

The United States flag is an important and powerful symbol.

It is literally the symbol of our freedom and many sacrifices that brave young men and women had to make in order to guarantee it.

This was the same flag that we planted atop Mount Suribachi on Iwo Jima in 1945, and the flag that astronaut Neil Armstrong put on the moon in 1969.

This was the flag that symbolized the United States when the US Third Army 808th Tank Destroyer Battalion liberated the concentration camp at Gotha Germany in 1945.

The guards and the officials of the concentration camp, desperate not to be caught, fled at our approaching attack and did not have time to kill the rest of the emancipated prisoners. These prisoners, at our approach, rushed out of the gates waving their arms ecstatically at us as our vehicles entered the open gates of the camp.

This was the very same flag that Michael Jordan, of the 1992 U.S. Olympic "Dream Team" draped around himself as he accepted the gold medal.

This is the flag that drapes the coffins of our brave fallen warriors. The ones who sacraficed all, so that others could live free and enjoy the liberty that God gave them as a natural right.

In 1916, President Woodrow Wilson issued a proclamation that officially established June 14 as Flag Day. Later, in August 1949, National Flag Day was established by an Act of Congress.

The U.S. flag is also known as the Stars and Stripes, Old Glory and The Star-Spangled Banner. It stands for the United States of America as a government, a nation, a people, and even as the American values of freedom and liberty.

But the flag itself is just a symbol. A symbol that features thirteen horizontal stripes that alternate between dark red and white. These represent the 13 original colonies.

In the top left corner are fifty white stars against a navy blue background. These stars represent the fifty states that currently make up the USA.

According to Charles Thompson, Secretary of the Continental Congress, the chosen colors have specific meaning as well. "White signifies purity and innocence," he said. "Red, hardiness and valor, and blue, the color of the chief, signifies vigilance, perseverance and justice."

Americans often fly the flag as an expression of patriotism, and it is featured in official government ceremonies such as military funerals and political inaugurations. The flag holds tremendous weight around the world as a recognizable symbol of the United States of America.

However, while the flag hasn't changed much in over 220 years (just more stars added, as more states joined the union), the attitude towards the flag has changed a lot for some people.

Unfortunately, in some places, our flag is no longer prominently displayed in our public schools, and the daily ritual of saying The Pledge of Allegience has been abolished. In one recent case, a California school teacher decided that the flag was offensive, and told students they couldn't draw flags for their art class.

Those freedoms symbolized by the flag are so comprehensive, that they even give you the right to burn an American flag as an expression of protest This is... provided you own it, and don't violate any laws against setting fires in public places.

But for most citizens, the flag is still something respected and revered.

Today is flag day, so show your respect and appreciation for our nation by flying our flag!

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